Lucca Giurlani is an Arizona State Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Mountain View, Mesa High School for AZpreps365.com.

The Mountain View Toros traveled to Basha on Friday night to challenge the unbeaten Bears, hoping to pull off an upset after a less-than ideal 1-2 start.

Unfortunately for the visiting Toros, the Bears ran away with a game that was never close, ending with a 55-10 loss that dropped Mountain View to 1-3.

“These are tough games,” coach Joe Germaine said. “Disappointing performance by us tonight.”

While the Toros displayed plenty of energy pregame, the hype slowly faded after Bears kick returner Cole Martin took the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Basha never let up from there. 

Its defense neglected to allow a point until the Toros finally drove for a field goal, narrowing the margin to 20-3 with 6:30 left in the first half. The field goal seemed to bring life into the Toros offense, which proceeded to drive into field-goal range again on the next drive. Unfortunately for Mountain View, a fumble ended the drive, along with most Mountain View’s hopes for a comeback.

Although it’s difficult to win any game when your defense gives up 55 points, the offense wasn’t doing its job either, continually handing Basha the ball back via two fumbles and an overall inability to pick up a first down on key third- and fourth-down situations.

“We couldn't do anything really against their defense consistently, so it was a tough night for us,” Germaine said.

Mountain View quarterback Jack Germaine faced pressure all night from a strong Basha pass rush that overwhelmed  the Toros offensive line.

“The problem was we didn't have enough time in the pocket,” senior wideout Zack Gaumont said. “We just had to keep going to screens and short passes.”

The screen game was the lone bright spot. Gaumont was electric when he got the ball in space, breaking off multiple long runs after the catch that made up the only explosive offense the Toros could muster. 

“We did a decent job of getting the ball into our best athletes' hands, letting them get in space and run,” Jack Germaine said.

Germaine generally made quick and good reads, but an inability to establish a run game further hindered the offense and allowed Basha to turn up the pressure even more. The recievers couldn't run deep routes as the game progressed because Germaine’s pocket wasn’t kept clean by the line, and his time to scan defensive coverage got smaller each play.

“It’s been a problem for us for the season really, up to this point we haven't been able to consistently run the ball,'' Joe Germaine said. "To be a good team and to be a good program, you have to be able to run the ball.”

As Mountain View prepares for its next matchup, a road game versus Chaparral on Friday, Joe Germaine will work on his offensive scheme in hopes to balance the success of the running and passing offenses.